Harvard University | McClelland Miscellanea

Tag Archives: Harvard University

October 24, 2009 · 7:33 pm

Tom McLaughlin Rocks

I happen to enjoy Tom McLaughlin’s weekly column in The Bridgton News. Wow, that’s a novelty, or at least it seems so based on the regular letters-to-the-editor the BN lists.

When I read what his critics have to say I cannot help but wonder if these folks aren’t also the same ones regularly preaching “tolerance.” Maybe their “tolerance” is only for those they agree with.

President Obama seems to have a similar problem. He doesn’t like Fox News. Why? I think it’s because Fox News raises aggravating questions and presents information that puts the current administration in a bad light.

Tom doesn’t hesitate to do the same. In the October 22^nd edition, he belittled the Harvard educations of Al Gore and Barack Obama. That’s not what folks want to read if they’re convinced that a Harvard education exempts a person from scrutiny from the rest of us.

Some call Tom’s writings, “right wing rants,” minus any explanation or knowledge of what that might mean. They’re a bit like the elementary school student who hears a word on the bus, drops it into the family conversation at supper, and wonders why his mom returns with a bar of soap.

Some of Tom’s critics in the BN readership do know what they’re writing about, so reasoned opinions differing from Tom’s are found very regularly among the letters-to-the-editor. Thus to suggest that the BN is one-sided means that the critic either doesn’t read the letters-to-the-editor or else doesn’t know what a left wing point of view sounds like.

Tom McLaughlin is entitled to his opinion and thankfully the BN provides him with a weekly forum to do just that.

On another note, I’m not at all surprised that the BN receives awards for their photos – they are excellent.

I am also pleased to see that the BN is developing an online website that will enable folks from afar to keep up-to-date on Bridgton and its surrounding towns. Keep up the good work!

( Sent as a letter-to-the-editor to The Bridgton News )

Hugh O’Flynn: The Doctor On Call for Ipswich High Athletics

IHS team doctor Hugh O'Flynn

By day, Dr. Hugh O’Flynn is an orthopedic surgeon at Coastal Orthopedics in Beverly. By night, if he’s not at an Ipswich school committee meeting, he’s probably at an Ipswich High School varsity event sitting inconspicuously in the stands. His preference these days is varsity girls’ basketball since his daughter Hannah is a sophomore starter on that team.

“The first thing I did when I moved back to town (in 1999) was to call up the school and see if I could be the team doctor,” recalled the graduate of Harvard and Columbia Medical School.

I suspect that the athletic director at the time, Dave Dalton, may have thought of the Julie Andrew’s line, “I must have done something good,” from My Fair Lady, when he heard the offer.

Former IHS trainer and current Ipswich AD Tom Gallagher put the magnitude of Hugh’s offer this way, “Many schools struggle to have a physician work with them period, and not only do we have one that is there for us any time we need him but he is also an orthopedic doctor. This allows our athletes to be seen for sports related injuries immediately. Most people have to wait weeks or months to see an orthopedic.”

“I have seen him evaluate people on the sidelines, in the gym, on the field, in the training room, in the parking lot, and even before or after a school committee meeting,” added Tom.

Sports medicine has been an interest of Hugh’s since his days as an athlete (captain of the 1985 Tigers football team) at IHS. “I was injured and cared for by orthopedic surgeons,” he said.

He did his residency at an all-orthopedic hospital in New York City and during that time provided medical care for the Giants and the Mets. He was involved in operations on Lawrence Taylor and Bret Saberhagen.

Hugh takes the volunteer position of team doctor seriously but tries to stay out of the way of the trainers. “I let them (trainers) take first role if they’re around. I am just there for backup and clarification.”

However, if the situation presents itself, he’ll step in. I saw it happen at an IHS boys’ tournament game at St. Mary’s last year. The Ipswich point guard (Alex Lampropoulos) went down late in a close game with a leg injury. The trainer got involved and then Hugh stepped in. “Alex was just having muscle spasms,” he said. Hugh had Alex do some stretching and quickly massaged his leg. Before long Alex returned to action and helped Ipswich win at the buzzer.

“We were weak at the guard position,” said Doug Woodworth, the IHS head coach at the time. “We needed Alex on the floor and Dr. O’Flynn treated him and assured us that Alex could play some more. We might not have put him back in otherwise.”

Tom Brady’s knee? “I know nothing special about it,” he said although interested. “Infections are a disastrous complication. Anyone can get them at any time. I’m hopeful that the infection didn’t damage the ligament.” He conceded that since the Patriots are keeping Matt Cassel around it might indicate that they know more about the seriousness of Brady’s condition than they’re letting on.

AD Gallagher probably summed up the contributions of Dr. Hugh O’Flynn best when he described him as the “unsung hero” of Ipswich High School sports. “He offers everything and expects nothing in return.”

(To appear in The Town Common on January 28th)